The Successful Dilettante
May 20, 2007 - Issue 22 - ISSN 1935-4886
Editor: Susan Henderson, coach@susanhenderson.com
Visit our website at: www.susanhenderson.com
In This Issue
1) Greetings/News
2) Susan's Musings - Individuality
3) Featured guest: Julie O'Malley
Meet this creative whirlwind who hit the ground running practically from birth. She taught herself to play the piano at age three, after her parents told her she was too young for lessons. By the end of grade school, she had learned to play the cello, flute, and baritone sax in addition to the piano, but never did get lessons. She also found her voice and took up singing, and hasn't shut up since.
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Greetings/News
A warm welcome to you all you wonderful people. So glad you could make it here. That is, if you're actually reading this. The communication filters have gotten really crazy lately and I believe this ezine is not getting through, but being diverted to another airport. At my end, ezines and regular emailings from folks who are in my address book have been landing in my filter file lately. The cyberworld has just gone mad, I tell ya.
I want to thank all of you fantastic folks who filled out my survey. I kept it anonymous so I don't know who you are, but I adore you. The comments are incredibly helpful and I am so grateful to those of you who took the time to write those thoughtful posts. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you. If you didn't get a chance yet to check out the survey yet, I am still very interested in your input and at the end you can collect a thank you gift Here's the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=336363857708
Don't forget to check out The Money Monkey which is a collection of tips, techniques and advice on how to become an entrepreneur. 25% of all profits go to The Red Cross. I am happy to share that I contributed a piece called Entrepreneurial Spirit - Do You Have It?
www.thelargemonkey.com/themoneymonkey.htm
Okay - drum roll please - I have an announcement to make. Just a couple of hours ago I completed and posted a five part ecourse that I am offering for gratis. It is entitled Five Secrets to Making a Living as a Creative Multipreneur. To receive it, all you need to do is visit my website and fill in the form on the home page or newsletter page. Be sure to use the same email address you use for this ezine so you don't receive a duplicate mailings. Let me know what you think.
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Susan's Musings - Individuality
"Our individuality is all, all that we have. There are those who would barter it for security, but blessed in the twinkle of the morning star is the one who nurtures and rides it, in grace and love and wit."
~ Tom Robbins
Love,
Susan
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Featured Guest: Julie O'Malley
Born and raised in Colorado, Julie moved to Los Angeles in 1988 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena. She entered the wonderful world of film and TV almost immediately, and started working behind the scenes as a grip and production manager on several films, commercials and TV shows. That landed her a position at Raleigh Studios as Senior Manager of Set Lighting and Grip
for eight years. She is currently a Purchasing Manager for PRG Los Angeles.
A natural artist and performer, Julie loves acting, painting, singing, and playing the piano, flute, baritone saxophone, and cello. Her musical credits include three years as the house pianist at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. She appeared in "The Negotiator" with Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson in 1998, and produced the indie film "Only in LA" with Nur Nur Cummings in 2000. She is also a working voiceover talent, and is 'the voice' on PRG's US and Canadian phone systems.
SH: When did you realize you would be happiest engaged in a multitude of interests?
JO: I realized at a quite early age that I would never be completely satisfied with just one thing in my life. I'm a Gemini, and I like to think that it means I use both sides of my brain equally--the analytical side is exercised at my 'day job' as Purchasing Manager for a large entertainment industry company, and the creative side is exercised in my pursuit as a voiceover talent and actor, as well as in my pursuits in music and visual arts.
I learned to read when I was three years old, and I became enamored of books and learning, but at the same time I discovered the piano in our basement and I spent hours learning to play. Shortly after that I began working in community theater projects and at age seven I learned to play the flute, while at school I began a lifetime love affair with mathematics. My mom also taught me to love plants and gardening, and every season I have some crop of herbs or vegetables growing for my husband to use in his wonderful cooking.
SH: What skills to you possess that enable you to find a balance in living the life of a creative multipreneur?
JO: Oh - that's a GREAT word! I think the most important part of my daily life is organization. I'm anal-retentive to a fault; I file everything and keep very detailed records. That habit helps me keep
my life in order and allows me to maintain several pursuits simultaneously without forgetting appointments, payments, invoices, paperwork, audition dates... it also allows me to totally leave my daily office job behind when I go home so that I can completely and wholly immerse myself in whatever creative activity I'm engaging in during my evenings and weekends.
One other important skill I have been so fortunate to possess is the ability to multitask. My day job alone is an exercise is multi-tasking--I like to joke that purchasing is for someone that can walk and chew gum at the same time... while juggling 42 balls, hopping up & down on your left foot, herding cats, and singing the Austrian National Anthem. It's a perfect job for someone like me because it's never the same from day to day, it's always a challenge, and I learn something new every day. Plus the sheer volume of work that passes over my desk keeps me running at full speed all the time. During my lunch hour (when I actually take one) I check my voiceover sites for potential auditions, and since I have the ability to record on the fly from my office, I occasionally will record one right then and there to email or upload to a potential client.
It's also important to eat right, exercise and take good physical care of myself. I get very impatient if I feel slow or tired. I don't have time for that!
SH: How do you manage your time? Do you make a plan?
JO: I pretty much work on a "take things as they come" basis. Making plans is almost useless, because I can never fully anticipate what's going to be thrown my way. My motto is 'deal with it and get it off my plate'. I handle an issue or task as it comes, and I make sure I finish it. That way I never have to worry about remembering to do it later. If it's something that cannot be finished right away, then it remains in my 'in-box' to remind me until it's done, but I make a point of emptying the 'in-box' every day. A good tool for me is a little computer program called "Stick-IT" which is a virtual sticky-note program. I put sticky notes on my computer screen and I won't delete them until the task is finished. It also saves paper!
SH: Who has most influenced you in your life and why?
JO: I would have to say my parents were the biggest influences on my life. They both taught me the value of hard work and a good work ethic. They also taught me how to calmly deal with adversity. In an age where most people are just 'phoning it in', I feel that my old-fashioned work ethic is what has gotten me this far in my careers.
SH: What advice would you share with our readers in their quest to become successful dilettantes?
JO: Patience. With yourself and with others. Not everyone will work at the manic pace that you do and you cannot measure other people by your yardstick. That was a lesson I had to learn myself. And as cliché as it may sound, you have to keep believing in yourself and your goals. If you can see it in your mind, you can make it happen. There will be setbacks and there will be times you feel you're just spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, but you will always be learning something, and even if it's just the lesson of how NOT to do something, it's valuable.
SMILE. And mean it. It makes everything work better.
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Catch Julie O'Malley at: http://www.gasslight.com/ihn.html where she is the on camera host and anchor for "IHN - Independent Horror" News! It's an iTunes Podcast we shot once a month - kind of an "Entertainment Tonight" for horror buffs!
For more information about Julie's voiceover work, check it out here: http://voice123.com/julieomalley
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Shameless Marketing Plug
If you would like to learn more about if and how Susan Henderson Coaching might be able to help you get your multipreneurial life on track, please contact me to set up a time to talk. We will start with a complimentary phone conversation where I can learn more about you, your current situation and goals. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about me, how I work with clients, and the coaching process. If we both feel the coaching relationship is a good fit, we will move on from there.
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